Tyler Brown: Washington AG 'States control elections, not the president'
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said his office is ready to defend the state's voting system against attacks from the Trump administration.
"My principal concern is that the president will continue to try to disrupt our systems. He obviously doesn't like mail-in voting, he lies consistently about election security issues, he issues executive orders to create things like he did a few months ago when he made a national voting registration list, which is unconstitutional," Brown said during a Thursday visit to The Columbian. "So we're fighting back in the courts around that. The law is pretty clear that states control elections, not the president."
Meanwhile, Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey said his office is working to ensure the Aug. 4 primary runs without incident by installing cameras and temperature-triggered fire-suppression systems at ballot drop boxes across Clark County.
"Our concern is that the likelihood of bad behavior is increasing as we get closer to the general election. If that bad behavior comes, we can't really predict that," Kimsey said Friday. "The president's direct orders have contributed to that tension."
In October 2024, an arsonist destroyed hundreds of ballots in a drop box at the Fisher's Landing Transit Center.
Kimsey said the FBI recently briefed U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., on the investigation, which found the incendiary device used was "sophisticated" but carried no political messages, despite online rumors.
"It wasn't something I could make in my garage," Kimsey said. "It was made by someone with access to thermite. The metal drop box had a hole burned into the bottom."
The FBI is still seeking the driver of a dark 2003-2004 Volvo S-60 in connection with the fire. The driver is reported to be a white male in his 30s to 40s with thinning hair.
Ramping up
State-level preparations are currently focused on recent executive orders and the SAVE America Act, a federal bill that recently passed the U.S. House but failed in the Senate.
The SAVE Act was first introduced in May 2024 with the intent to require all Americans to provide documentary proof of citizenship in person - such as a passport or birth certificate - to register to vote or update their registration. It would effectively eliminate universal mail-in voting and online voter registration, limiting mail-in options strictly to voters with specific disabilities or military commitments.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly urged Congress to pass the legislation, calling universal mail-in voting "corrupt" and highly susceptible to fraud.
Brown expressed concern that federal pressure could result in unusual disruptions during the upcoming election cycle.
"There's a myriad of things that used to be unthinkable that are possible: sending ICE to polling locations, declaring nonsense emergencies to delay or slow down elections," Brown said. "Those things, I think, are real, or the possibility of those is much more real than it used to be."
According to the Brennan Center for Justice, deploying armed federal agents, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to polling sites violates federal law. Laws prohibiting federal armed agents from polls have been on the books since the Civil War to prevent voter intimidation.
"It is against the law to intimidate a voter, so I have every confidence our local law enforcement will enforce that law if it is occurring," Kimsey said.
A Clark County Sheriff's Office spokesperson said in an email if the agency receives reports of suspected election interference or other unlawful activity, deputies will respond, investigate and take appropriate enforcement action based on the facts and law.
"Voters should have a very high confidence in the election process, in the Washington mail-in ballot process. The country should be moving towards the Washington process of elections, not the processes of somewhere like Ohio," Kimsey said. "Hopefully it's dull and boring this year, and people get to turn in their ballot, and everything is fine. But it does seem like things are ramping up."
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